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EXPLORATION AND SURVEY 



OJ-' THE 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 



REPORT 



EXPLORATION AND SURVEY 



OF inE 



TERRITORY 



ON THE 



AROOSTOOK RIVER, 



DURING THE 



SPRING AND AUTUMN 



1838. 



By E>, holmes. 



AUGUSTA: 
SMITH & ROBINSON, PRINTERS TO THE STATE- 

18 3 9. 



Printed by order of ilie House of Representatives of the Slate of Maine, 1839. 






STATE OF MAINE. 



Ix Board of Inteu^^al Improvements, ? 
April 23, 1838. S 

Ordered, That the Land Agent is hereby authorized and empowered 
to cause an exploration and survey of the Arooptook River and its 
tributary M'aters the ensuing year, by some suitable person with a par- 
ticular reference to the settlement of that country and for a water 
communication between tlie Penobscot and Aroostook and Fish Rivers. 



Land Office, ) 

May 1st, 1838. $ 
To Ezekiel Holmes, Esq. of Winthrop, 

Sir: — Pursuant to the above order of tlie Board of Internal Improve- 
ments, you are authorized and requested to select suitable assistants, 
and proceed as soon as practicable in the above mentioned exploration 
and survey, which you will finish in sucli a manner as in your opinion 
may best promote the interest of the State. You will make a recon- 
noisanceof the Sebois River and ascertain the practicability of a water 
communication between this river and La Pompique, also between the 
Little Machias and Fish Rivers, and at such other points on the Aroos- 
took between the St. John and Penobscot Rivers, as you may deem 
advisable. You will examine tlic geology and mineralogy of the 
country, and present in your Report a toj)ographical account of the 
same — describing the streams, mill sites, mountains, ponds, bogs, &c. ; 
the growth, quality and extent of different soils, and in what direction 
it will be advisable to open roads and the facilities for making the 
same. You Avill notice the climate, in what it differs from the settled 
parts of the State — the adaptation of that region for particular products 
— the facilities for boating, and the transportation of lumber, and all suck 
other particulars as you may deem valuable. You are requested to 
return specimens of minerals and soils to this office with localities 
designated, and interesting specimens of natural history, such as fossils, 
bones, horns, shells, plants, seeds, &c., when the same can be done 
without much inconvenience. 

ELIJAH L. HAMLIN, Land Agent. 



*ro the House of Representatives : 

In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives of 
this date, I herewith lay before it, "the Report of Doct. Plolmes, upon an 
Agricultural Survey of the Aroostook, for the year 1838." 

JOHN FAIRFIELD. 
Council Chamber, 
March 21, 1839. 



a ^^ © m ^ 



PART 1. 

To the Board of Internal Improvements for the State 
of Maine. 

It -was thought advisable, the better to fulfil the 
intentions of the Board of Internal Improvements 
as expressed in the foregoing orders, to take two 
different views of the country. One when it was 
under the influence of the abundance of w^ater in 
the spring of the year, and the other when under 
the influence of the frosts and partial drought of 
autumn. In an agricultural point of view, one 
could much better judge of the nature and capacity 
of the soil, and the general capabilities of the coun- 
try, by examining its features during these two 
seasons, than by a single view of it in midsummer, 
when every thing is green and flourishing. 

Accordingly, on the receipt of your orders, I 
repaired to Bangor and made arrangements for the 
expedition. 

In the spring, I was accompanied by Messrs. J. 
Chace and J. Simmons, as batteau men, and Joe 
Tomer to manage the birch. Capt. R. Smithwick 
volunteered to accompany us gratuitously, being 



6 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

desirous of examining the natural history of that 



•o 



In the autumn, 1 was accompanied by J. Sim- 
mons and Prince Thomas, as boat-men, and J. 
Babcock in the birch. Mr. S. A. Jewett, of 
Pittston, also went with us as assistant. 

On m} arrival at Bangor, I found the Surveyor 
General fitting out a company to the same section 
of the country, for the purpose of lotting out Town- 
ships No. 10 and 12, 5th Range on the Aroostook 
river, and we concluded to put our forces together, 
and proceed in company under the direction of 
Capt. Parrot. 

Our boats and supplies left Old Town on the 
21st of May, and we took stage to JVIattawamkeag 
Point, in order to meet tliem there and proceed up 
the Penobscot, it being our design to go up the 
Sebois, a branch of the Penobscot, carry across 
the portage into La Pompique, and thence down 
the Aroostook to the place of destination, viz : 
No. 10, there make a general depot for our sup- 
plies, and each party divide off to perform their 
respective duties. 

Desultory observations on improving the navigation of the 
Pennbscot River. — Beconnoisance of the La Fompique, 
and portage thence to the Sebois. — Reconnoisance of the. 
Little Machias River, and the portage thence to the 
Eagle Lakes. 

In order to render the Penobscot river safe and 
easy for boating, t^^o things are necessary; — either 
to canal from Bangor to the Lakes above, or to 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 7 

create slack v^ ater navigation by means of a series of 
dams and locks. The latter is much more feasible 
and economical. The existing obstacles which 
present themselves to the present navigation of this 
river, are, the "rips," which are occasioned prin- 
cipally by loose boulders of rocks — and the *' falls," 
occasioned by the occurrence of ledges crossing its 
bed and intercepting its w^aters. As a general thing, 
there is an abundance of water throughout the year 
for the ordinary purposes of boating in light bat- 
teaus, but not always enough to run large quantities 
of logs and heavy lumber. 

The first most important tributary to this noble 
river, is the Piscataquis, which enters it at right 
angles on the western side, thirty-six miles above 
the city of Bangor. The dam and lock at the 
mouth of this stream, erected by the enterprise of 
Mr. Miller, if I mistake not, demonstrate the utility 
of such improvements; and the practicability of 
them as adapted to these waters, is fairly tested by 
the ease and safety with which boats and rafts 
descend or ascend the falls at this place, once so 
difficult to navigate. Between Bangor and Matta- 
wamkeag Point, no particular examination was 
made. 

The Mattawamkeag enters the Penobscot on the 
east side, sixty miles above Bangor. 

The point formed by the junction of these rivers 
was not long ago the site of a large Indian village. 
It is an elevated alluvial plain, and commands three 
views of the two rivers, — viz: up and down the 



3 AGRICULTURAL SURVRY OF THE 

Penobscot and up the Mattawamkeag. This last 
named stream is an extensive one. It in fact drams 
nearly the whole region of country south of the 
Aroostook and its tributaries. It is about 320 feet 
wide at this place, and the Penobscot is nearly 500 
feet in width. A short distance above the mouth, 
as you proceed up the Penobscot, the slate rock 
crops out on the bank as it crosses the river, but 
occasions no change in the current. The water 
between this and " Nickatou," or *' crotch" of the 
river, is very good for boating, but as you enter the 
east branch, large granite boulders occur, which 
cause a pretty strong rapid w hen the water is high. 
It is sometimes necessary to warp boats by. These 
boulders may be very easily removed, and as no other 
cause to produce the rapids is visible, t conclude 
they would cease on removing them. From this 
place it is very good boating at the common pitch of 
water, until you come to the foot of what is called 
*' Ledge Falls." These are caused by slate rocks 
crossing the river. Here a dam and lock would be 
necessary. The site for a dam is very good indeed, 
and as it is a good situation for mills, the expense 
would undoubtedly be indemnified by the use of the 
water for that purpose. We found it necessary to 
warp our boats up here. These rapids are not far 
from the south hne of Township No. 1, 7th Range. 
Above this the water is somewhat sluggish for some 
distance, and the boating is good until you come to a 
place called "Rocky Rips." Here is a strong rapid. 
It is formed by the slate rock — a somewhat talcose 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 9 

slate, impregnated with small quantities of lime. 
The strata run parallel with the river, or rather the 
river runs parallel with them, and has worn for 
itself a channel of about 200 feet in width. 

The western bank is not very high, but it rises 
abruptly from the water, while the eastern is much 
lower. Here is also a good site for mills. Two 
dams would be necessary to slacken the water, or a 
short canal might be constructed around the falls. 
We found it necessary to take out a part of our 
load and warp the boats up. Above these falls it 
is good boating for a mile or two, when you come 
to the foot of " Grindstone Falls." At this place 
the river has worn a trough through the ledge which 
is parallel to the course of the current. The banks 
on each side are rough and precipitous. The slate 
of which this ledge is composed, like the last men- 
tioned, is somewhat ta^cose and contains lime. 
Masses of grauwacke are also found here. The 
rock is much decomposed and the fragments or 
"shingle" cover the shores to some extent. 

Near the shores, the ledge comes up to the surface 
of the ground, and there is of course a little soil 
upon it. There are several good sites here for 
dams, either for mills or for slack Avatcr, or for both. 
The portage here is about half a mile in length, 
and the chance for an inclined plane and railway 
around the falls, is very good indeed. This would 
undoubtedly be the best and most economical mode 
of overcoming the obstacles to the navigation of 
the river at this place. 
2 



10 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

Above these falls we had very good boating for half 
a day — say six or eight miles distance, when we 
came to "Whetstone Falls." The river here 
crosses the ledge at right angles, which crops out on 
both sides of the river, and is of the same character 
as that mentioned above. Here is a very good sit- 
uation for dams, and also a very good site for an 
inclined plane and railway around the falls, which 
I think would be the better way to surmount them. 
The portage is about half a mile in length, over 
which we found it necessary to carry our cargo, but 
the boats were warped up over the rapids or falls. 

From this you have a long reach of smooth water 
which affords very good boating. The country 
also improves in appearance, for, instead of the burnt 
trees and sterile rocks which mark much of the 
country for some miles below, a hard wood growth 
appears, patches of interval shew themselves, and 
the upland in the rear of them is evidently of a good 
quality. This appearance continues until you come 
to ihe mouth of the Wassataquick, which enters 
the Penobscot on the west side. Around the 
mouth of this stream is a large body of interval 
land, while on the opposite side, on the east, the 
land rises gradually into a large swell, covered with 
hard wood. Two settlers, Messrs. Hunt and 
Dace, have got very good farms under cultivation 
here. They are at present the highest up of any 
on this branch of the Penobscot, and are the last 
inhabitants that the traveller finds as he proceeds 
up the river. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. H 

It may be well to remark here, that the true 
Wassataquick is called East Branch on Greenleaf 's 
map of Maine, and the true East Branch is called 
Wassataquick. The water continues good for 
boating until you come to the mouth of the Sebois. 
This branch enters the Penobscot from the east, 
and takes its rise in several large lakes which are 
near the waters of the Aroostook. 

The land around its mouth is of that description 
known by tho name of low interval. From this 
place, as you continue up the Penobscot, the water 
becomes quick and tlie boating hard, and it contin- 
ues thus until you arrive at the foot of the " Grand 
Falls" of the East Branch. 

One or two low dams between this and the 
mouth of the Scbois, would be of essential service 
in checking the force of the current and rendering 
it more easily navigated. 

When we left Bangor, it was our intention to 
proceed up ihe Sebois river, and €nter the Aroos- 
took by the La Pompique; but, on consultation with 
the boatmen, it was thought best to continue up the 
east branch of Penobscot into Montagamon Lake, 
thence up Hay Brook, and carry across the portage 
into Millinoketsis, a lake of the Aroostook. This 
course, in order to comply as near as I could with 
my orders, would render it necessary for me to go 
up the La Pompique from the Aroostook, and across 
to the Sebois to examine the ground and ascertain 
the practicability of connecting the two waters. 
But as the route proposed was thought to be easier 



12 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

for the men, and would give me a chance of seeing 
more of the Aroostook valley than the other, I 
acquiesced in the arrangement and kept in company 
with them. 

The "Grand Falls," as they are called, area 
series of falls or rapids, continuing for about two 
miles through a narroA/ channel worn in the rocks, 
the strata of which cross the river and render it 
formidable and dangerous for boats to encounter. 
The first pitch of water is near the mouth of Bow- 
ling Brook, which is a small but wild and troubled 
stream entering from the east. The country in this 
region presents a dreary and barren aspect. For- 
merly a heavy pine growth existed here, but the fires 
have swept it away and left the rocks completely 
bare, except occasionally a blackened and branch- 
less trunk lifts itself up, as if to make the utter 
desolation of the scene still more striking. 

On carefully examining this spot, it is evident 
that the best, and indeed the only rational mode of 
overcoming the obstructions which are presented, 
and which are the greatest in the whole distance 
from Bangor to the lakes, is by means of an inclined 
plane and railway. This may be placed on the 
east side of the river where is a good site for it. 

Dams could be constructed here without much 
trouble, but it would be necessary to have several, 
and in some of the places where they would be 
needed the river is too narrow and too much pent 
up to give room for the locks. At a slack place in 
the water below^ the upper pitch, and also at the 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 13 

upper pitch of water, some Inmbermen have con- 
structed temporary dams for the purpose of com- 
manding the water while running their logs down, 
and they find them to be of essential service in this 
kind of business. 

The rock formation here, is slate intermingled 
with grauwacke. Boulders of porphyry occasion- 
ally shew themselves, and large masses of conglom- 
erate or puddingstone are strewed around in abun- 
dance. The granite boulders which we occasionally 
met with on our way up, have disappeared some 
distance below. 

One of these puddingstone boulders was found 
by Capt. Smithwick, on the west side of the river, 
measuring six paces in breadth, seven paces in 
length, and more than eight feet in height. From 
the size of them it may be inferred that they have 
not travelled far from their original location. The 
mountains at a short distance in the rear, are 
undoubtedly formed in part or wholly of this kind of 
rock. We had not time to go to them and ascertain 
the facts. The boulder above mentioned contained 
pieces of jasper, and also adularia in small frag- 
ments. 

Near the head of the falls, on the east side, are 
found large boulders of secondary limestone. As 
a similar limestone was discovered by our able 
State Geologist, Dr. Jackson, last year, on the 
Sebois, it is not impossible that they are derived 
from the same formation, and probably, when the 
country between these two rivers shall be cleared 



14 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

up, large tracts of limestone formation will be found 
in place. 

After completing the portage of our cargo, and 
launching our boats once more at the head of the 
falls, we found smooth, dead, or rather sluggish 
water, occasioned undoubtedly by the dams which 
we had passed. Tiiis continued for nearly a mile, 
perhaps more. It then became more quick and so 
continued until w^e had arrived at "Stair Falls." 
This is a rapid, occasioned by a formation of trap 
rock which crosses tlie river at right angles with its 
course, and causes four or five cascades of moderate 
height, like a low flight of stairs. We found it 
necessary to w^arp our boats up them. A dam and 
lock would be necessary to flow out the rapids at 
this place. Above this we again came to sluggish 
water, which continued for half a mile. The 
scenery as you pass up the river here, shifting and 
varying at every turn of tlie stream, is very beautiful. 
A mile or two above this is a large lake, known by 
the Indian name, Montagamon, at the foot of which 
a strong dam has been built. This enables the lum- 
bermen to flow the lake in the spring of the year while 
they raft their logs down^ and also to increase the 
water below when they open the gates to let their 
lumber through, thus causing an artificial freshet 
which assists them in their whole route to the mills 
below. Half a mile below this dam the water begins 
to run very strong, and continues to run more and 
more rapidly until you reach the foot of the dam. 
A low dam across the river at the commencement 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 15 

of the rapids, would be of service in improving the 
navigation of this part of the river, and a lock would 
be necessary in the large dam at the outlet of the 
lake, to lift the boats into it. 

The Montagamon lake is a large and extensive 
body of water, containing some fine islands. It is 
surrounded by some large heights of land as vv^ell 
as by moderate swells. There is in the vicinity a 
good growth of pine timber, from which some of the 
finest lumber that now floats on the Penobscot 
waters is obtained. Here ended our hastv and 
imperfect examination of the Penobscot, Just 
beyond this lake ^ve turned out into a small tribu- 
tary called " Hay Brook," which comes into the 
stream that connects the I^Iontagamon with the 
lake above. This brook takes its rise near the head 
w^aters of the Aroostook, and enters the Penobscot 
waters from the east. 

The examination, as I have just stated, was both 
hasty and desultory, as we were anxious to get to 
our place of deposit as soon as possible, and could 
not detain the men and boats for the purpose of 
taking admeasurements or looking minutely into all 
that oflered worthy of examination. It has estab- 
lished, however, in my own mind, the importance 
of improving the navigation of the river, and con- 
vinced me that it is perfectly feasible. And I would 
respectfully recommend, that at as early a day as 
possible, the Board, by consent of the Legislature, 
should order a thorough and critical survey of the 
Penobscot river with a view of ascertaining : — 1st. 



IQ AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

A more complete topographical knowledge of it; 
and 2d. What would be requisite for, and the cost 
of rendering it boatable with ease and safety. 

Indeed it is a matter of astonishment to me, that, 
while many other of our w^ater courses, by no 
means to be compared w ith tins noble stream, have 
been surveyed by skilful Engineers, this, which has 
contributed and still contributes more than any 
other one, to the strength, the wealth, the prosperity 
and importance of our State, has hitherto been 
totally neglected. There is no river in Maine that 
waters such an extent of country, or flows through 
such a diversity of soil as this. Every step there- 
fore in improving it, would tend to bring the interior 
nearer to the focus of trade, and be opening as it were 
an additional avenue to the resources of our country, 
and thereby foster its growing powers. Population 
would then, instead of crowding our seaboard, or 
hovering around our already thickly settled towns, 
stretch itself forth into what is now the wilderness, 
clear for itself new^ farms, and build new towns 
and villages, know ing that the communications to a 
market were open at all times, and feeling that they 
were not wholly isolated from the rest of the human 
family. 

If no other improvements could be effected, it 
would be a praisew^orthy object for the State to 
assist in constructing good roads over the several 
portages around the several falls. Let such roads 
be properly and permanently made — camps or 
buildings of a cheap but durable kind erected at 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 17 

suitable distances, and strong hand carts or trucks 
placed there for the use of those who need. 

This would be a great convenience for those 
whose business may lead them up the Penobscot. 
Perhaps this may appear like an idle scheme to 
many, but there cannot be the least doubt, that, had 
the State done these things fifteen years ago, ihey 
would have yielded more than ten per cent, inter- 
est on the cost of construction and repairs by the 
very saving in labor and time spent in getting sup- 
plies and men to and from the public lands, for 
surveys and explorations and other necessary expen- 
ditures connected with the care of the public 
domains, while the benefits and savings to private 
enterprise would have been immense. One unac- 
quainted with the facts can hardly have a conception 
of the severe labor that men undergo in carrying 
boats and supplies over these portages, or "carrys," 
as they are called. 

Every thing must be done by main strength, and 
that cannot always be laid ouc to the best advan- 
tage. Oftentimes they are compelled to pick their 
way, where, though frequently crossed before, there 
is not a sign or vestige of a footstep or path, and 
where a slip of the foot, loaded as they are, would 
be inevitable death. It is true, that the men usu- 
ally employed in this work are hardy and inured to 
the business, but this is no reason why they should 
be compelled to continually act as beasts of burden, 
when a little assistance from the State would change 
the routine of operations, and make what is now 
3 



1 8 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

a most laborious and oftentimes hazardous task, one 
of comparatively easy performance. 

We found Hay Brook to be a crooked stream, 
at first skirted with larches, or hacmatacks, as this 
growth is most commonly called. After leaving 
this growth, you find the course of the stream lies 
throngii a tract of " Brook Interval," forming a 
natural meadow, from which hay is annually taken 
to supply the teams of lumbermen. This circum- 
stance probably gave the name to the brook up 
■which we were passing. After passing these mead- 
ows, on the right bank, you find the slate rock 
cropping out and running in nearly an easterly direc- 
tion, wliile its strata are nearly perpendicular, both 
of which are circumstances not in conformity with 
the direction and dip of the rock further below. 

Soon after this, you come to a ridge on the left, 
of sandy soil covered with a thrifty growth of Nor- 
way pines. At the south point of this ridge there 
is a small rapid, where would be needed a dam about 
tivo rods long, and a lock. After you pass this the 
stream widens and becomes more sluggish, and 
continuing on for about half a mile further, you come 
to another rapid, more strong and much longer than 
the last. The stream here forces its way for thirty 
or forty rods through a narrow passage in the rocks, 
and is so obstructed with windfiills and loose rocks, 
that we found it necessary to unload the boats of 
their cargo and carry it by, but the boats were 
warped up, lifting them occasionally over the obsta- 
cles which choked the channel. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 19 

It would be necessary to construct at least two 
short dams with locks, in order to slaken the w ater, 
and to clear out the loose rocks and logs which lie 
in the way. Above this place, the stream bec(»mcs 
much more serpentine or winding, and tiie boats 
are also impeded in their progress by the alder 
bushes, which, growing on each side, lean over to 
nearly a horizontal position across the water. There 
appears to be a good supply of water, and the chan- 
nel may be very much improved by straightening it 
by digging a new channel. The soil being alluvial 
will allow this to be done very easily. With the 
exception of windfalls and leaning alder bushes, no 
other obstructions exist until you come to the portage 
or carrying place between this and the Aroostook 
waters. This portage is upon a gradual swell of hard 
wood land, and is two hundred and eighty-six rods 
in length. On the northerly side lies " Millino- 
ketsis," a beautiful lake about a mile in length, and 
two or three miles long. At the head of this lake 
lies a large bog, which bends around the foot of the 
swell of land, and through which a passage might 
be cut into Hay Brook. For reasons herealter to 
be given, I do not however consider this the most 
eligible place for connecting the Aroostook and 
Penobscot rivers. 

The Millinoketsis empties itself into a dead 
stream forty or fifty feet wide, which continues 
thus for about two miles, when it becomes some- 
what narrower and more rapid in its current. It 
also becomes choked with windfalls and jams of 



20 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

logs, and the sides are skirted with leaning 
alders, which obstruct the passage of boats very 
much. 

These alders grow to the lengtli of twenty or 
thirty feet, and being loaded with snow during the 
winter, become fixed in nearly a horizontal position. 
Their branches become interwoven with tiio.se of 
the opposite side, and thus cover the waters of a 
stream in some places forty feet wide, and are a 
serious impediment to boatmen, especially when 
their leaves and branches are wet. The borders 
of this stream are also covered with cedars, "pump- 
kin" and sapling pines, <Sc:c. It continues to be 
occasionally encumbered with windfalls until yoa 
come into the next lake, Millinoket, and in order 
to improve it for boating, it will be necessary to 
construct two dams between these two lakes, by 
which to flow out the rises that are found — to clear 
out the channel by taking out the loose rocks and 
windfidls, and to cut away the tangled growth on 
the sides. The average width is about forty feet,, 
and its average depth is not far from three feet. 

Millinoket is a large sheet of water, surrounded 
on all sides by ridges and swells of land which are 
covered with a mixed growth of hard and soft 
wood. This land offers, as far as the eye can judge 
at a distance, tracts of good soil for cultivation. 
Proceeding in a northeasterly course you enter the 
outlet, which for half a mile is a broad, smooth 
stream. You then come to a slight rapid, encum- 
bered with a jam of logs and windfalls, forming an 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 21 

obstruction across the whole stream. It would be 
necessary to cut and clear out these, in order to 
open the channel. 

Below this we found one or two small *^rips," 
and occasionally the obstructions before mentioned, 
viz: windfalls and bushes, lodging across from bank 
to bank. After passing these, we came to still 
water again for half a mile, and then entered the 
main Aroostook. A dam at the head of this slack 
w'ater would probably flow back into the lake, and 
thus render it boatable from tlie main river to the 
MiHinoket. 

We found the waters of the Aroostook swollen 
to a higii pitch by the rains which had poured upon 
ns most generously on our way up, and they swept 
our boats along with a strong but smooth current. 

About a mile above a branch, called the Moose- 
luck, we came to a formidable rapid which con- 
tinued for some distance. Here we came very near 
losing one of our boats by its striking a rock. On vis- 
iting the spot again in the autumn, when the water 
was very low, we found the cause of this rapid to be 
a dyke or w all of puddingstone conglomerate crossing 
the river at right angles. A small island is formed 
in the middle of the river. The narrow channel is 
on the right as you pass down, and in the left channel 
between the island and the main land is this per- 
pendicular " ledge," extending across and forming 
a natural dam. It is five or six feet thick and 
four or five feet high. In the spring of the year, 
during the freshets, the water rushes over it with 



22 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

great force. It is from this undoubtedly, that 
the boulders of puddingstone -which are found 
so abundantly on the Aroostook as you coast down 
it, were derived. There is, however, no very bad 
rapid in the river below this until you come to the 
Grand Falls, about two miles or more from its 
mouth. 



Reconnoisance of the La Pompique. 

After depositing our supplies at the camp, in 
No. 10, we returned up the Aroostook for the pur- 
pose of examining Ihe La Pompique, or, as the 
Indians pronounce it, La Bombique, and the land 
between it and the Sebois. 

The La Pompique is a comparatively small 
stream, entering the Aroostook on the south side, 
in township No. 9, Range 7th. Its banks are low, 
and encumbered w ith alders and leaning bushes, 
■which obstruct the passage of boats. Jams of logs, 
and loose boulders of slate-rock and puddingstone, 
also obstruct the navigation of it, and make one or 
two portages necessary for the purpose of avoiding 
them. No ledges or rock formations were observed, 
in place, all being loose and easily removed. The 
volume of water which passes down it, in ordinary 
seasons, is sufficient for the common purposes of 
boating in this region, which is with batteaux, but 
in times of drought it must be rather low and occa- 
sion difficulty to get up or down it. Near the head 
of the stream are two branches, which by being 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. £3 

cleared might add mucli to the amount of water. 
The distance between the La Pompique and the 
Sebois Lake is two thousand five hundred and forty- 
eight ket, or one hundred and fifty-four rods nearly. 
The land on the margin of the Sebois is quite low 
and wet, and by digging a canal of moderate depth, 
it migiit be brought ten or fifteen rods nearer the 
La Pompique with ease. The land between the 
two waters is a low tract covered with a cedar, fir 
and spruce growth. 

On taking the level across we found the La 
Pompique to be seven feet, seven inches and nine- 
tenths higher than the Sebois.* 

There would be no difficulty in forming a canal 
between the two on account of the nature of the 
soil, as there is evidently no rocks of any conse- 
quence or other obstacles to render digging diflSicult. 
One lock only would be needed. 

The expense of constructing a canal and lock 
might be estimated at 
Viz : Digging and removing, say 23029 
cubic yards of earth, at 10 cents 
per yard, §2,302 90^ 

Constructing lock, 1,500 



g3,802 90 

An objection however, meets you on the threshold 

which renders the policy of constructing a canal 

across exceedingly questionable. From appear- 

* The plan and profile of the route across is deposited with the Board 
of Internal Improvements. 



24 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

ances. and such indications as could be observed, I 
am led to tlie conclusion that there would be hardly 
water enough in the La Pompique to serve as a 
feeder. The branch of the La Pompique Avhicli 
comes nearest to the Sebois arises in a bog and is 
rendered sluggish in its current by an old beaver 
dam below. It is possible that if a high dam were 
built below the mouths oi" the two tributaries, a 
suthcient supply might be obtained. It is doubtful, 
however, in my mind, if a canal, even could that 
be etl'ected, would be the better medium of commu- 
nication. A railroad, under all the circumstances, 
otl'ers the best mode ot' overcoming the dithculties. 
The distance is short — there is plenty cf lumber 
upon the spot, and the ground for most of the way 
not unfavorable. 

The cost ot railway in the aggregate may be 
estimated at $:2,4.()0; to which add — 

Clearing the La Pompique and constructing 
cheap lock, .... x?,000 

Contingencies, .... 600 



5,000 
3Iaking the whole cost of improving the boat 
navigation from the Aroostook into the Sebois, five 
thousand dollars. Tlie distance from the one to 
the other, following the La Pompique, is probably 
from twelve to tit'teen miles. 

The question next arises whether a well con- 
structed turnpike road between the two waters 
would not answer every purpose. A good road, 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 25 

properly made and drained might be constructed for 
^1000; — but allowing it to cost g 1000, the connec- 
tion may be made between the two rivers (Sebois 
and Aroostook) for ^4,000. 

The utility of doing this must depend very much 
upon the practicability and amount of cost of over- 
coming the obstacles presented by the falls of the 
Sebois below. Of this I am not able to speak, not 
having seen them. At present this course is quite 
a thoroughfare, notwithstanding the severe labor 
required to pass through it. The travel, however, 
through here, will be somewhat diminished by the 
finishing of the Aroostook road, but still there will 
always be travel here, and when the section of 
country in the vicinity becomes settled, as it one day 
will, (and that day may be essentially hastened by a 
little liberality and exertion on the part of the State) 
the travelling on this route will increase in the direct 
ratio of its population. 

The articles of transport for many years, must 
be, supplies for lumbermen — agricultural produce — 
merchandize, and the lighter kinds of manufactured 
lumber, such as shingles, clapboards, staves, dj:c. 
Heavy lumber, such as logs, timber, &c., cannot 
easily be brought up stream. I can see no other 
course for these than such as nature has pointed out, 
viz : down the Aroostook and St. John rivers. 

The Sebois lake is a large deep body of water, 

surrounded on the north and west by high swells of 

land covered with a mixed growth, indicative of 

good soil for agricultural purposes. The La Pom- 

4 



■-- -t. t'T^ - "\ ^* 5? 



ny C-? T 






■^2ZIS "SVC-wC I!>I""I*-!^ ?^\- 



Lzis. T 






. re re 



r^js ;c> h^Te poined cot 









iced wi; 



^:rji 



vr. -• 



-•ru. *• ._ 



Xo. 10. Sim- R^z^r It 



«j^r i zjLS zrz— rus ztjktjl. ibe w^-is" s cnixe 



A 









±'Efyj?Z^j» j-li TUSSTT'I^T. 



•zt 



brinz? T.?n within a znilr iZi a - ^ ' rr t~: z_f-? 

of tiie Litde 3Iachi2s l^e Hfr- yiz , 

with rap'M water. ai>d 5z*::h^r r»i '-"'" sue. Tae 

y: " * is V~«"w^ 

pine, cedsr. sp-^m-^r. zr. ^;. Tbe^t is Jrzj^ •:*■ eo 
larch or hackmaiacA: I'lzni here. Tie ^rrrer Lilf 

febestkr: ^ _f^bj ihe iL.ine c: 

interra!.* ' . ^ :: is a I:nl-^ ii.-:re s^'^r i_ 

kind of inien"=i is rfiierallT. 

The marzin ot iis b^r^ is crr'^ded wlih s ihiik 

dr^ Tue pine ^ . 

here than on anj of die other l^iii»:nes w>::ri we 
hare des:!ribed. thoczii nc^ qniie so Iji^e iS seme 
or 3 river . ^ . 

cn„ -. - =7, as, ;--- - — - --_^; _- -«- ^ 

roads which we O'Ccasirnslir me: wio.. the Inziber- 
men had been ihere operaiinz niioo-nbiedlj oq liseir 
own hizh res^^Dsibilirv". iXo ie^izes or r - 
there in place, biii Io«>se !x?ni - ~< ~ rev^^ ^ . ._ . _ . 
upper pan, esr^eciallT near : : They are ci 

the same char3c;er as iho$e berore sieiiboced, 
such as slare. ]>cdding stone, Arc. The Little 
Machias lake, thr?ngh " - ^" : - 7 fses, 

for we fonnd that ic c- - -. - — . :s 

about three miles long, and perhaps a mhe and a 
half wide, and e:xiends in a direciion west bj north. 
It is S-Arrounded wim ridges of a moderaie : 
covered with a hard wr.>i zrowih. Ar the - 



28 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

extremity of this lake, on the northeast shore, is the 
portage from this to Eagle lake, which is the upper- 
most lake, or source of Fish river, and the first of 
an extensive and interesting chain of lakes, stretching 
to the northeast nearly parallel \v'ith the St. John 
river, and reaching, as we were informed, to within 
fifteen or twenty miles of the Grand Falls. Of this 
we are not certain. It is pretty certain, however, 
that they have never been explored by any Agent of 
the State, and all that is known respecting the east- 
erly part of them is derived from the French at 
Madawaska, who have fished and hunted in and 
about them. 

The portage above mentioned is two miles and 
three eighths long, and passes over a beautiful swell 
of hardwood land. Tiiis swell sinks gradually to 
the w^est, and again rises, thus forming a low valley, 
which aflbrds a very eligible site for a canal, rail 
road or turnpike, for facilitating the transportation 
between the two waters. 

On perambulating the valley, I found a brook 
running into the Little Machias. This continues 
up to nearly the summit level between the two 
w^aters, when it suddenly turns to the left, or west- 
erly. This, should it be needed, would make a good 
feeder — from this angle in the brook commences a 
natural meadow, about forty rods in length. A thick 
growth of firs and spruces next appear, and continue 
for some rods, when another brook shews itself, 
running into Eagle lake. 

On taking the level through this valley, I found 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. OQ 

the waters of the Eagle hike to be twenty-three feet 
higher than those of the Little Machias.* The dis- 
tance between the two is 11,880 feet, or two and a 
quarter miles. 

Eagle lake is a large, deep body of water, crooked 
in shape, being made np of two arms nearly at right 
angles to each other, and the distance is probably, 
from one end to the other, from twelve to twenty 
miles. The width is variable, say from one to four 
miles, and it affords at all seasons of the year avast 
volume of water. 

The nature of the soil between the two lakes is 
mostly alluvial, and the growth is made up of 
cedars, firs and spruces. There would probably be 
found nothing to make digging difficult, and every 
advantage is offered for the construction of a canal, 
with locks. The cost of improving the Little 
Machias and connecting it with Eagle lake, maybe 
estimated at §17,092 50. 

To improve the Little Machi;is, a dam and 
lock would be needed at the mouth, and another 
just below the lake. The loose boulders removed, 
jams and windfalls cut away, and also the alders 
upon the banks — the stream straightened by cutting 
across the little peninsulas, or " ox bows," as they 
are here called, and occasionally a jettie or wing 
dam put down to deepen the channel in places where 
ii is broad and more shallow. This I think may 
be done for §2000. 

* Plan and profile of the ground are deposited with the Board of Inter- 
nal Improvements. 



30 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

Excavating and removing 118,925 cubic 
yards of earth for canal at 10 cents per 
yard, . . . ^11,892 50 

Constructing three wooden locks, 4,000 00 

Wooden pier or breakwater in Eagle 

lake, ... 200 00 

An inclined plane and railway would be less 
expensive and equally as good, perhaps better. 
Setting the improvements of the Little Machias as 
before, at ^2,000, and two miles and a quarter of 
railway at ^1 1,250, tlie total expense would amount 
to ^13,250. The distance from the Aroostook 
river to Eagle lake cannot be less than fifteen miles. 
The inclination of the railway, except for a few feet 
at each end, where it dips into the water, would be 
so gradual and slight that no fixed engine would be 
needed, and horse power would be amply suflicient 
to transport loaded boats of considerable burthen 
from one lake to the other. 

Should it be thought, however, by the Board, 
that the expense of a canal or rail road would be too 
great for the amount of transportation which would 
probably be done upon the other, I would respect- 
fully suggest that a good road between the lakes 
would come within the scope of economy, and 
at the same time answer a good purpose for 
facilitating intercourse between the two sections 
of country. By winding around the foot of the 
swell of land, over which the portage now passes, a 
level track might be secured, and very good roading 
found. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 31 

The distance vvoiild probably be thus increased to 
three miles, and a good turnpike might be easily 
constructed over this ground for ^3,000, which, 
with the ^2,000 for improving the Little Machias, 
would amount to ^5,000 for fifteen miles of water 
and land communication. Or, should greater econ- 
omy be desired, and less amount of improvement 
accomplished; by omitting the cutting through the 
"oxbows," building jetties and removing all the 
boulders, the remainder might be done upon the 
Machias for ^1,000, and the sum total for fifteen 
miles of very good communication w^ould then 
amount to but g 4,000. 

Should the line of the contemplated Aroostook 
Road, from the Aroostook river to Madawaska, be 
changed, as it undoubtedly ought to be, so as to run 
upon the swells and settling lands in the vicinity of 
Fish river, the above expenditure would be amply 
repaid by the saving of labor and time in getting in 
supplies for that work through this improved way. 

Should either of the above plans of internal 
improvements be adopted, you can then have, with 
comparatively trifling additional expense, a complete 
thoroughfare by water from the settlement on the 
Aroostook river to Madawaska on the St. John^ 
a distance of fifty miles or more, and that too 
through your own territory. 

This additional expense will consist in erecting a 
few dams with locks in the streams that connect the 
several lakes on the way to the St. John. 



22 ACRTCULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

In order to ascertain more fully what would be 
probably necessary for the purpose, and to learn 
what would be the probable benefit of such improve- 
ment, we proceeded, during the fall excursion, down 
a part of the lakes to Fish river, and thence into the 
St. John to Madawaska. 

The upper Eagle lake has two branches, one 
bearing northwesterly and the other easterly. Pro- 
ceeding down the easterly branch, you come to a 
broad outlet, which, for a mile or twO; has a gentle 
smooth current. This stream is estimated to be nine 
or ten miles long. The average depth at the time 
w^e descended it, was about three feet — width vary- 
ing from thirty to eighty feet. After descending 
three or four miles, we found that the slate rock 
forms a flooring to the stream, presenting the edges 
of the strata for some distance, but there are no 
falls or rips of any consequence. Occasionally there 
is a little quick water, but nothing to retard the 
progress of the boats either way. A couple of dams 
at suitable distances from each other, with locks, 
would make the stream deeper and slacken the 
water the whole length. As you approach the 
second lake, the stream becomes more serpentine, 
and patches of very good interval shew themselves 
on the banks. 

The second lake is not far from four miles in 
length, and from two to three in breadth. At the 
upper part it is bounded on each side by high swells 
oi land, but towards the foot the land is more low. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 33 

The stream connecting this lake with the next, 
or third hike, is estimated to be three miles long. 
The water is not so deep as the last mentioned 
stream, but it is broad, and the current not very 
quick. The most rapid part is near the outlet of 
the second lake, where is a suitable situation for a 
dam. The third lake is a large body of water, and 
is made up of two branches — one stretching in a 
curving direction to the east, and the other a little 
west of north. It is not always observed when the 
lake is entered, and strangers are apt to continue 
down the easterly branch on their way to the St. 
John, when they should take the other, or the left 
hand branch as the lake is entered. 

The easterly branch cannot be less than six miles 
in length, and receives, near the foot of it, a large 
inlet from other lakes further east, which we did not 
explore. 

As I have just observed, the left hand branch 
leads into Fish river, and is the direct way to the 
St. John river and tlie Madawaska settlement. 
This branch of the lake is three miles long. The 
waters are deep and abound in fish of various 
descriptions. The French people from Mada- 
w^aska resort in great numbers to this and the other 
lakes, especially in the fall of the year, for the pur- 
pose of supplying themselves with the fish found 
here. The large lake trout, or togues, as they are 
sometimes called, abound here — also the kusk, a fish 
somewhat similar in appearance to the salt water 
kusk. The kind most sought after, however, is 
5 



34 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

called *' white fish." I did not have an opportu- 
nity of examining any of them, and cannot say to 
what species they belong. We were informed by 
a Frenchman whom we met upon the lake, fishing 
for togues, that there was a party then in the lake 
next east of us, taking the "white fish" — that 
they caught them at night by torch light with dip 
nets, and that it was the work of but a short time 
to load a horse — that they were about half the size 
of the common alewife or herring, and of very good 
flavor. 

Fish River which connects this lake with the 
St, John, and indeed is the outlet of the whole 
chain of lakes, is at least fifteen miles in length. It 
is of very uniform depth, being on an average, at 
the time we were there, about four feet deep, but 
it is evident, from the marks on trees growing on 
its banks, that at times it is swollen to no mean 
dimensions, and that at such periods a large volume 
of water flows down its channel. 

As you enter it from the lake, you find a few 
boulders in its bed, which cause a slight rapid; but 
which would cease on their removal. There are 
but two very serious obstacles to encounter between 
this and the St. John river. One of them is the 
"Grand Falls," about three miles from its mouth, 
and the falls at Haddock's and Savage's mills, a 
mile below these. At the Grand Falls, the water 
plunges over the rocks almost perpendicularly, 
twelve or fifteen feet. The best mode of over- 
coming this obstruction would be to construct an 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 35 

inclined plane and railway about fifty rods long, 
as the river is so narrow and the rocks (which are 
slate) form a rugged shore through which it would 
be too expensive to dig a canal. At the milldam, a 
lock might be constructed without much trouble, 
or an inclined plane and railway made around the 
dam of about twenty rods in length. 

As my orders did not authorize me to go into a 
minute examination of any other section of this 
route, than between the Little Machias and the 
Upper Eagle Lake, I did not take any admeasure- 
ments, nor make so critical a survey as to enable 
me to give an estimate of the probable cost of im- 
proving the navigation of the streams which con- 
nect the lakes with each and with the St. John. 
However, the exploration which I did make, con- 
vinces me that with comparatively little expense, 
these natural channels may be easily improved, and 
by constructing one kind or the other of the works 
which have been mentioned, a complete communi- 
cation, principally by water, of not less than fifty 
miles in extent, may be opened between the Aroos- 
took and the St. John rivers — thus uniting the set- 
tlements on each of the rivers, and in fact, estab- 
lishing a direct and safe thoroughfare to the frontier 
parts of our State. 

Indeed it is not a little surprising that something 
of the kind, either in the form of a canal or a good 
road, has not yet been done. On the St. John is 
a settlement of more than four thousand inhabitants, 
belonging most rightfully to the State of Blaine; 



36 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

and on the Aroostook another, comprising in all 
not less than five hundred — citizens of the same 
Commonwealth as ourselves, bound to support our 
government, amenable to our laws and entitled to 
our protection — and yet, hitherto there has been no 
established means of ingress to, or egress from them, 
unless you pass through tlie territory belonging to 
Great Britain. 

Surely it is no wonder that our boundary is not 
settled, wlien we have not even made so much as 
a footpath in which to go and see where it is; and 
have no means of visiting that portion of our fellow 
citizens who live upon our borders, except by 
groping our way through the trackless forest or 
crossing the dominions of a foreign power. 

The advantages of a direct communication to 
Madawaska, setting aside the duty of every State 
to establish and keep up a complete line of commu- 
nication to every part of its territory, would be the 
opening of a new field for the enterprise of our 
citizens, and bringing much of the trade of the fertile 
valley of the St. John to our own doors. But this 
is not all. At a time when a portion of our terri- 
tory is actually under the jurisdiction of Great 
Britain, it is a more serious and important inquiry, 
how — should we be driven to the extremity of a 
resort to arms — how can we enter to defend or 
regain ? How could soldiers or munitions of war 
be transported to this section of our frontiers — 
where it is sufficiently difficult for the hunter, inured 
as he is to the toils and the labors of a life in the 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 37 

wilderness, to travel with his pack and birchen 
canoe across the route in question ? 

Surely tlie wholesome admonition of experience 
— **in time of peace prepare for war " — has been 
strangely disregarded by us, as it respects this por- 
tion of our territory, more especially when we con- 
sider that the very preparation required v\'ould be 
thrice more useful in time of peace, and largely 
contribute to the abiding prosperity of this portion 
of our domain. (a) 



38 AGRICULTURAL BURVEY OF THE 



PART II. 



Situation and Extent of the Valley of the Aroostook. 
Climate — Soil — j\''atural growth — Agricultural pro- 
ducts — Roads recommended — Geology. General re- 
marks. 

The Aroostook, or Restook River, as some call 
it, rises in several lakes wliich are located very near 
the Eastern waters of the Penobscot. Lakes Mil- 
linoket and 3Iillinoketsis are the principal sources 
from which it flows. Its general course is easterly, 
and it forms one of the most important branches of 
the St. John. It is very serpentine in its course, 
and hence, with its tributaries drains a greater 
extent of territory than it otherwise would, amount- 
ing to not less than fifty townships, or 1,152,000 
acres, comprising in its valley some of the very best 
soil in the State of Maine. 

The waters of this river are very little interrupted 
with falls or " rips" until within about three miles 
from its mouth, when it becomes obstructed with 
rocks which cause a precipitous fall estimated by 
some at from fifteen to twenty feet in height; though 
from slight observation, it appears much higher 
than that. The rocks cross the river here at nearly 
right angles, and cause a series of cascades which 
continue nearly a mile and afibrd a very romantic 
and picturesque scene. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 39 

The waters of the Aroostook, as has been before 
observed, move moderately and smoothly, except 
"when they are swollen by freshets in the spring. 
They are however, beatable for common batteaux 
all seasons of the year, except when obstructed by 
ice. Large boats, drawn by horses walking on the 
shore, in the same manner as canal boats are 
drawn, are also used when the water is at a suitable 
pitch, but in the drought of summer it is somewhat 
difficult to move up and down with boats of any 
considerable size. 

Tributaries. The principal tributaries or 
branches of the Aroostook are as follow s : begin- 
ning at its mouth and following upon the south side, 
Presquile, St. Croix, Umquolqus and La Pom- 
pique. On the north side — Limestone Stream, 
Little Madawaska, Salmon Stream, Beaver Brook, 
Little Machias, Great Machias, Mooseluck. Most 
of these streams, like the main Aroostook, are not 
very rapid. They are occasionally crossed by the 
strata of slate or greywacke which sometimes make 
obstruction ; and a pitch or descent of water suffi- 
cient to form a mill privilege is the result. 

There is one peculiarity to be found in nearly all 
the places suitable for mill sites. It is quite seldom 
that both branches of the stream are of the same 
character. One side, for instance, will be formed 
by the ledge while the other side falls off, being 
made up of alluvial (interval) land, which render it 
very difficult to make a dam that shall be perma- 
nently tight on that side. 



4,0 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

This characteristic is exhibited at Mr. Fairbanks, 
on the Presquile, and in several other situations. At 
Mr. Pollards, on the St. Croix, this is not the 
case. Both sides of the river here present a strong 
ledge. We did not ascend the Presquile above Mr. 
Fairbanks. 

St. Croix. The branch next in course and 
importance is the St. Croix. This enters the 
Aroostook near the centre of No. 10, 5tli Range, 
near the point where the Aroostook road strikes 
the main river. It arises principally from a lake in 
No. 8, although some of its smaller branches extend 
into the No. 7's of the 4th and 5th Ranges. It 
passes through a good timber tract of land, and 
there is also some very good land for agricultural 
purposes upon its banks. Lumbering will probably 
be the order of the day upon it for many years. 
There are two good mill sites upon it. One in the 
corner of No. 9, which has been taken up by Mr 
Pollard who has been engaged in erecting a very 
excellent saw and grist mill there. 

The other is in No. 8, a few miles higher up the 
stream. The waters of this river abound in fish. 
And it is thought that some of its branches might 
be connected with those of the Mattawamkeag so 
as to form a communication by water to the Pe- 
nobscot. 

Umquolqus. The next most important stream 
above this is the Umquolqus which rises in No 7, 
6th range, from two small lakes. This is not so 
large a stream as the St. Croix. It takes its name. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. ^41 

as the Indians say, from a species of duck \vhich 
remains there daring the winter. We did not see 
the duck while we were there, and cannot there- 
fore determine what particular species is meant. 
For the first eight or ten miles from its mouth, it is 
a rapid and wild stream when there is any thing of 
a freshet. Above this it is somewhat slugijish. 
The land through which it flows is varied in its 
character. On the west side, as you go up, is a 
tract of land covered with mixed growth, rising 
gradually from the banks and forming a beautiful 
swell, possessing undoubtedly a good soil for farms. 
Higher up the stream the land is lower and covered 
with a fine growth of larch (hackmatack,) spruce 
and cedars. On this stream are one or two good 
mill sites, but the lumber for several miles from its 
mouth has been cut off with or without leave and 
carried away. 

Near the source of one of its branches in towm- 
ship No. 7, 6th range, is a large formation of lime- 
stone. 

La Pompique. Next above this last named 
stream, is the La Pompique. The source of this 
branch, as we have remarked in another part of 
this report, is only one hundred and fify-seven rods 
from the Sebois Lake, out of which the Sebois 
branch of the Penobscot flows. It is rather a 
small and crooked stream, much obstructed by loose 
rocks or boulders, windfalls and leaning alders. It 
is often used, in the spring and fall, by those who 
come up or down the Sebois, in passing to and from 
6 



4)2 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

the Aroostook. Indeed it was formerly the prin- 
cipal avenue to tlie Aroostook from the Penobscot 
country. 

In the drought of summer, the water is shallow. 
The land through which it flows is rather low and 
swampy, though there are swells of good land at a 
little distance. It is well stocked with trout; and 
water fowl breed in considerable numbers near its 
source. Its name, I am informed by the Indians, 
signifies in their language, a rope. 

Little Mac hi as. The Little Machias is 
the only branch of the Aroostook on the north side, 
which we were able to explore, and for a descrip- 
tion of this, must refer to the first part of our report. 

The Aroostook country may be considered as 
lying between 46 and 47 degrees of north latitude. 

Soil. The soil of this region is various. Much 
of it is alluvial. By alluvial, liowever, is not always 
meant that species of soil that is known by the 
name of interval; but by alluvial I here mean 
that kind of soil which lias been deposited by water 
in a quiet state, and although all interval or bot- 
tom lands are alluvial, being deposited by water in 
this state or condition, yet all alluvials are not 
strictly speaking intervals. Some disappoint- 
ment was experienced last summer, by many who 
visited the Aroostook with the idea that the alluvial 
land, which Dr. Jackson spoke of in his report, was 
the same as that known in other parts of the State, 
particularly on the Kennebec, Sandy, Androscoggin 
and Saco Rivers, as altogether interval lands. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 43 

Although there is a good deal of this species of land 
there, yet the alluvion is mncli of it '' upland.^^ 
Such appears to be the formation of the soil in many 
of the townships which I examined, particularly 
letter F, upon which Mr. Dennis Fairbanks resides. 
This is one of the best townships in tlie whole val- 
ley of the Aroostook, and has been proved to be first 
rate for crops, especially for wheat. An analysis of 
the soil of Mr. Fairbanks's fiirm, was made by 
Dr. Jackson, and published in his report of the 
Geology of the Public Lands. Some soil taken by 
me in the forest, a mile or two from Mr. Fairbanks's 
house, yielded on analysis similar results, excepting 
it afforded a tritle more (5. parts and fo in tlie hun- 
dred) of vegetable extract (geine), a result which 
might naturally be expected. Some taken near the 
same place, but from a locality in which cedars 
(Thuya occidentalis) flourished, contained still more 
geine than the other. 

There are many tracts or belts of interval scat- 
tered up and down the river which are very good. 
The arable portion of them is not so wide as has been 
thonght, for, as a general thing, they sink rather too 
much as they recede from the river. On the Ken- 
nebec, Sandy, Androscoggin and Saco Rivers, the 
intervals generally rise as you proceed back from 
the banks of the river into table or high lands, but 
here the high lands are most often found on the oppo- 
site sides of the river. It is true that this pecu- 
liarity does not always shov^ itself where intervals 



44 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

occur, but in a majority of cases this will be found 
to be the fact. 

These intervals are at first fertile, and afford 
good crops, but it will probably be found that they 
are much more liable to be affected by early frosts, 
and in process of time, when it shall become ne- 
cessary to manure, they will prove less retentive 
of such dressing.* The best soils for farms are 
undoubtedly on the gentle swells of land covered 
with a mixed growth of hard and soft wood ; and 
although the intervals and the lower lands will be 
valuable for tillage and mowing, yet the swells are 
much better adapted for pasturage and more likely 
to be supplied with wholesome water. 

The tract of land lying between Houlton and 
letter F is mostly a moderate swell of a quality 
similar to letter F, and indeed much of the whole 
country between the Aroostook River and the 
Houlton Road is of this character. It has been 
asserted that there are an unusual quantity of bogs or 
lowlands in this country. From a careful inspection 
of the lands bordering on the whole length of the 
river and several of its tributaries, I do not think 
that this is the case. It is true, that in a territory 
where there are no very high mountains which give 
rise to streams, the waters must collect in what are 
called bogs, and many of the streams take their rise 
in such places, others start from lakes. The amount 
of these low lands compared with the number of 

'The intervals here ppokenof are seldom if ever overflowed by the river. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 45 

acres of good soil, capable of making first rate arable 
or grazing farm«, is not out of proportion ; nor do 
I think there are more of them than the inhabitants 
will, at some future day, wish there were. It 
may seem exceedingly visionary to some, and appear 
like looking forward to a very far distant day, when 
the inhabitants of this section of our State shall con- 
sider these lowlands as among their most valuable 
property; and yet, by turning our eyes to the older 
countries, we find such to be the fact there, and learn 
that similar lands are sought after with avidity, 
drained and cultivated with great success and profit. 

Growth. The forest trees of this region are 
similar in kind to those in other northerly parts of 
the State, Among them are found the following, 
viz. Norway pines {Finns Rubra), Pumpkin, or as 
it is most often called. White Pine {Pinus Stiobus), 
Hemlock {Abies Canadensis), Spruce {Mies 
JYigra), Silver Fir {Abies Balsamifera), White 
Maple, White Birch or Paper Birch, Yellow Birch^ 
Beech, White and Black Ash, Elm, Red Oak, 
Iron or Lever Wood, Wild Cherry, Cedar (White 
Cedar Thuya Occident alls), common Poplar, 
Canada Poplar or Balm of Gilead, Basswood, &c. 

In the bogs and lowlands is found the Larch, or 
as it most commonly called Hackmatack, and there 
are some large and extensive tracks of this valuable 
tree, now so much nsed in shipbuilding. They 
grow large and thrifty. The common Cedar of this 
country, which is the White Cedar — Arbor Vitse or 
Thuya Occidentalis of Botanists — is also abundant 



46 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

in such places, but what is a little uncommon, by 
far the best specimens of this tree are found on the 
uplands, and in some of the best soils. When in 
such situations, they grow up straight and thrifty, 
whereas, when found on tlie low lands they are 
much more apt to be crooked or to form a curving 
trunk. This fiict puts Michaux's assertion, that this 
tree never groivs on high land, entirely at fault. 
He says "It is never seen on the uplands, among the 
Beeches and Birches, &c. but is found on the rocky 
edges of the innumerable rivulets and small lakes 
wiiicli are scattered over these countries, and occu- 
pies in great part, or exclusively, swamps from 50 
to 100 acres in extent some of which are actually 
accessible only in winter, when they are frozen and 
covered wnth several feet of snow. It abounds 
exactly in proportion to the humidity, and in the 
driest marshes it is mingled with the Black Spruce, 
the Hemlock Spruce, the Yellow Birch, the Black 
Ash and a few stocks of the White Pine." 

From the above account one would suppose that 
it was impossible to find this tree except in some 
inaccessible bog; and indeed, tiie general belief is, 
that whenever one of them is seen you may find a 
cold stone and a cold spring of water at its root. 
Yet some of the best and most productive land, the 
soil of which on analysis aflbrds as many valuable 
materials as any in tlie State, and when cultivated 
actually produces as good crops as any other, sup- 
ported before being cleared, a dense growth of these 
trees. The Fir tree also, as well as the Spruce, 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 47 

has taken the liberty to grow as well or better 
here on the intervals and uplands, than they do in 
the swamps. Many of the intervals, which, when 
cleared, aflbrd a warm dry soil, were covered with 
the Silver Fir, Spruce, &c. 

The Hemlock is not quite so plenty here as in 
some other parts of the State. 

White Pines are found mingled with the hard- 
wood growth, and the most valuable and splendid 
specimens of this tree occur interspersed with such 
trees on the swells and uplands. 

The Rock Maple is very abundant and affords 
large quantities of sugar to those who are disposed 
to enter into the business. 

The Yellow Birch acquires enormous size here 
and affords some fine timber, a considerable quantity 
of which is cut on the St. John and sold. 

The Beech is abundant in some places, but 
whenever you find it prevails you will also find a 
hard and stony soil. 

In the low lands, Elms and Black Ash abound ; 
"White Ash is not very abundant, though in some 
sections it is found in considerable numbers. A few 
trees of Red Oak were found on Eagle Lake, but 
Oak of any kind is not often found in this section. 
The Pines and Spruces seem to be the only kind 
of timber now in demand on the Aroostook. The 
Pine timber found here, is undoubtedly superior to 
any in Maine. But very little is yet manufactured 
in mills, it being nearly all hewn or made into ton 
timber in the forest, and floated down to Fredericton 



48 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

or the city of St. John and thence shipped to Eng- 
land. Tlie Larch for knees and timber for ship- 
bnikhng, and (he Cedar for fences, railways and otlier 
purposes; Birds-eye Maple, Birch, &c. for cabinet 
work and many of the purposes in the arts will, at 
no very distant day, come into demand, and when- 
ever the call is made an almost inexhaustible supply 
may here be found. There seems only one draw 
back to their value. There is no other way by 
which these productions of the forest can be sent to 
market except doivn the Aroostook and St. John 
rivers — thus subjecting us to the necessity of going 
through or into a country belonging to a foreign power 
before they can be disposed of. 

Climate. Although this section of country is 
situate in a pretty high latitude (between 46" and 
AT N.) The climate is not so severe as in some 
situations on the same parallels, owing no doubt to 
its interior location and to the fact that it is not 
mountainous. The surface is undulating or lying in 
swells, and although some of these swells rise into 
hills, yet they are of a good soil and well wooded 
to their very summits. 

Snow falls early and continues upon the ground 
somewhat late in the spring, which prevents the 
ground from freezing very deep in the fall or winter, 
and from "heaving," as it is termed, in the spring, 
by frosts. 

As a general thing, the frost penetrates but three 
or four inches and can be broken through with very 
little force any time during the winter. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 49 

The early fall of the snow may be attributed to 
the existence of so large a body of wood, covering 
the earth for such an extent unbroken. It cannot 
but be the case that where there is such a dense 
covering to the soil as so much foliage affords, and 
where there is so much evaporation constantly 
going on, a general moisture and coolness of the 
atmosphere must be the consequence, and also a 
much lower state of temperature than if none of 
these causes existed. 

Experiments upon the evaporation, or rather 
transpiration of moisture from the leaves of trees, 
show^ that a single tree will throw off an immense 
quantity of moisture in the course of a season. 

Williams, in his history of Vermont, has some 
interesting remarks upon this subject. According 
to his experiments the evaporation from a common 
sized maple, only eight inches and a half through, 
amounted to three hundred and thirty-nine thousand 
and seventy-two grains in twelve hours. A pint of 
vs^ater weighs one pound or seven thousand grains, 
and hence every acre of land which contained six 
hundred and forty such trees upon it, throws off three 
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five gallons of 
moisture in twelve hours. (See Williams' History 
of Vermont, Vol. 1, page 90.) 

Taking this for granted, one may easily conjecture 
what must be the natural consequence when so 
large a tract of country is covered so completely 
with apparatus for evaporation. Nor ought any 
one to be surprised to find the thermometer ranging 
7 



50 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

at a lower temperature than it would in the same 
country, if divested of wood and subjected to tlie 
common operations of cultivation. 

There is undoubtedly another position in which 
we ought to look at tliis fact as connected with cli- 
inate and productions. 

The electrical state of the atmosphere must be 
very dilTerent in such a dense forest, from what it is 
in an open country, and how far this may influence 
the productions of the soil, in hastening or retarding 
their growth and maturity, or vary the results of 
agricultural operations, cannot, in (he present state 
of the science, be determined. That electricity is 
a most powerful agent in the changes which climates 
midergo, as well as in the more daily variations of 
the weather, no one can doubt, though he may not 
be able to solve the mystery of its operations, or to 
fully comprehend all its connections with the daily 
occurrences in meteorology which are manifest to 
the most careless observers. 

That electricity also, has a powerful influence 
upon soils, is also beyond a doubt; but by what laws, 
special or general, it acts, or how the various effects 
wdiich may be attributed to it, are brouglit about, is 
yet almost wholly unknown to even the most scien- 
tific. 

The Aroostook River is closed by ice generally 
abont the middle of November, and opens about 
the 20th of April. This agrees very well with the 
time in which the Kennebec River closes in the 
fall and opens in the spring. 



AROOSTOOK TElllMTORY. 



51 



The following tables will show the comparative 
temperature of the country on the Aroostook, with 
other places where such records are kept. 

It will be well to observe that thermometers in 
towns, are generally kept suspended on the side of 
a building, which shelters them materially, while 
ours was constantly moving from place to place — 
sometimes on the banks of the river — sometimes in 
a dense cedar swamp, and sometimes on elevated 
but shaded ground. 



Dny. 


Sun rise. 


Sept. 24 


52^ 


25 


30 


26 


31 


27 


38 


28 


53 


20 


42 


30 


40 




7)28G 




40G-7 


Oct. 1 


40 


2 


32 


3 


55 


4 


30 


5 


47 


6 


34 


7 


40 


8 


27 


9 


26 


10 


34 


11 


40 


12 


42 


13 


40 i 



Noon. 



48^ 

57 
55 

57 

65 

65 

69 



47 

50 

60 
57 

58 
63 



7)416 ,7)387 



68 
75 

44 

48 
54 
58 
44 
46 
46 
56 



^ At Harvey's on St. John— fair, 

\ clouely, riiiny — wind W. 
At River De Chute— fair. 
Aroostook Falls — fair — wind N. W. 

^ At island 6 miles from mouth of 

} Aroostook — fair. 
At Presquile — fair, cloudy — w. S. E. 

*) Four miles above Presquile — fair, 

I shower at night, 
Beaver Brook — fair — wind S. W. 



55 2-7 1 Average temperature for Sept. 52° 



54 
63 

37 

45 
52 

56 
42 

38 
36 
48 
56 



35 



Litile Machias-cloar, pleas't-w.N.W. 

u u (; a 

' 5 Portage between Little Machias 
( and Eagle Lake — fair, rainy. 

Do. (at noon in cedar swamp) — w. S. 

Do. " " rainy— w.S. 

Do. " "at night rainy. 

Do. " " fair— w. N.W. 

Do. " " " w.N.W. 

At Eagle Lake — fair — wind N. W. 
At foot of Middle L. — cloudy — w. E. 
At 3d Lake — rainy — wind E. 
5 Bakersville — cloudy, slight snow — 
} wind N. W. 

Do. rain with snow. 



52 



AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 



Day. 


Sun rise. 


Noon. 


Sun set. 


Remarks. 


Oct. 14 


3G 


40 


42 


Bakersville — fair — w. W. 


15 


32 


42 


43 


^ Fish River— some rain — 
I Avind S. E. 


IG 


40 


48 


42 


^ At head of Middle lake-- 
I rainymostof the night. 
l Portage between Eagle 


17 


32 




43 


} lake and Little Machi- 


18 


28 




42 


( as. 

X Mouth of Little Machi- 

l as — cloudy. 










19 


26 


33 


32 


No. 10— fair. 


20 


32 




34 


do. snow storm. 


21 


30 


39 




do. snow and rain. 
C 4 miles above Umquol- 


22 


32 


40 


30 


< qus-cloudy, some snow 
d and rain. 


23 


28 


34 


36 


Mooseluck — fair, cloudy. 
C 1-2 mile above La Bom- 


24 


31 




38 


< bique — cloudy, some 
({ rain. 


25 


34 




36 


At Umquolqus — rain. 


26 


32 






No. 10 — cloudy, with rain. 


27 


32 




36 


do. fair. 


28 


36 






do. cloudy. 


29 








No. 7 — snow-storm. 


30 


22 






No. 4— fair. 


31 


26 









Crops. The crops cnltivated by the farmers of 
this country, are such as is generally found gro^ving 
in other parts of the State. 

Indian Corn. Very little Indian corn has been 
cultivated here. The seasons for several years past, 
have been unfavorable for this crop, even in parts 
of the State which have long been cleared and laid 
open to the influences of the sun. They have been 
particularly severe here, where the forest has hardly 
been encroached upon. Hence but little attention 
has been given to a crop so liable to be cut off by 
early autumnal frosts. Occasionally, however, a 



y^ROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 53 

crop has been obtained, equal in soundness and 
weight, to any grown in any other part of the State. 
Mr. Goss, who resides on an interval farm in No. 
10, 5th Range, informed me that in one season 
since he had resided upon the river, he gathered a 
crop of this, which weighed sixty pounds per bushel, 
and wliich was perfectly ripe. At present, it is 
very uncertain whether it can be raised to advan- 
tage. It is possible, that when the forest shall have 
disappeared, and the climate ameliorated by its 
absence, the culture of Indian corn may become a 
pursuit of very considerable importance to the agri- 
culturalists of that region, provided they should 
cultivate an early variety, inasmuch as much of the 
soil is well adapted to it. 

Wheat. The staple crop of the Aroostook 
farms is, and ever must be, wheat. For this the 
climate, and most of the soil, is exceedingly favora- 
ble. The variety of this grain mostly cultivatedj, 
is the spring wheat, though some experiments w itls 
winter wheat have been eminently successful. It is- 
usually raised upon a " burn.'''' Formerly, many 
were in the habit of falling the trees in the springy, 
burning as soon as possible, and sowing the wheat 
immediately. This made it so late before the crop 
could ripen, that the frosts and even snows of win- 
ter sometimes overtook and destroyed it before it 
could be secured. Experience has taught them 
a better system of procedure. The best mode 
undoubtedly is, to fall the trees and "Zim6" them, 
(that is, cut off the limbs,) in June. In the course 



54 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

of the summer or fall, put in the fire, then "jiink^^ 
and **^>27f," and sow the seed early in the succeeding 
spring. This gives the wheat the advantage of an 
early start, and it ripens as early, or nearly so, as it 
does any Avhere in Maine. 

Some prefer to let the " chopping,^^ or trees that 
are fell, lie until tlie next spring, before they burn 
them. When an early burn can be etfected, no 
doubt this is a very good mode. There is then no 
danger of burning deeply into the soil, as is some- 
times the case during a dry time in the summer or 
fall, and the wheat has the benefit of the stimulus 
of the recent ashes that are made. 

On lands prepared as above, the average crop is 
twenty bushels per acre. 

I have mentioned that some experiments with 
winter wheat have been successful, and the promise 
that these experiments give, that this variety will 
be as successful here as any where, is strong and 
encouraging. Mr. Goss, the person just mentioned, 
has for the last four years cultivated it with tolera- 
able success. I examined his crop last season 
wiiile growing, and also after it was harvested. — 
This was sown upon interval land, ploughed, and 
yielded after the rate of thirty bushels to the acre. 
He attributes his success to the fact, tiiat the ground 
does not freeze deeply here during the winter. The 
snow falling early and remaining late, prevents the 
frost penetrating deeply, and also prevents any con- 
siderable heaving of the ground by alternate freez- 
ing and thawing in the spring, and the roots are not 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 55 

therefore thrown out and killed as they otherwise 
would be did not the snow protect tliem. This 
variety of wheat has also been successfully culti- 
vated in townshi]-) No. 4, on the Aroostook Road, 
and on the St. John river, above the Madawaska 
settlement. Mr. Goss's crop was very fine ; the 
straw grew long and healthy, and the berry was 
very plump and briglit. It is to be hoped that 
experiments in regard to the cultrirc of the winter 
variety of this crop will be continued. Should it 
fmally be found that it is safe to cultivate it, an addi- 
tional source of profit and prosperity wiU be ascer- 
tained. A country that will afford both winter and 
spring wheat, must be singularly flivored, and need 
not, under ordinary circumstances, fear want or 
famine. 

I regret that I am not a1>!o to give more accurate 
statistical information up;)n this and the other crops; 
such as the exact amount of increase per bushel 
sown — exact amount of crop to the acre — expense 
per acre of cultivating, Iszc. The great want of 
exactness in their operations, of which farmers 
almost every where are guilty, prevails among the 
farmers here. Scarcely any one of them can tell 
the precise amount of ground cultivated, quantity 
of seed sow-n, or bushels harvested. 

Their answers to questions npon the subject, 
amount to general estimates. The provisions in 
the late law granting a bounty on wheat and corn, 
and requiring the applicants to make oath to tlie 
amount of seed sown, acres cultivated and bushels 



56 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

harvested, will remedy this trouble in regard to these 
crops, but as the ^Yheat was not tlu'ashed when I 
was there, I must refer you to such returns as may 
be made to the Legislature. 

The appearance of the fields during the summer, 
and the good quality of the grain harvested in the 
fall, would convince the most faithless that this is 
naturally a great wheat country. I have been 
informed that Mr. Lewis cultivated, in No. 7, on 
the Aroostook road, 80 acres of wheal and gathered 
1600 bushels. I cannot voucli for the truth of this, 
as I did not see Mr. Lewis, he not being at home 
at the time I was there. This, however, is but one 
instance of the many that can be cited of the suc- 
cess attending the cultivation of this golden crop. 

In 1837, Fish and Wiggins raised in township 
No. 4, on the Aroostook road, 1250 bushels of wheat 
on 50 acres of burnt land, averaging as }ou will see, 
25 bushels to the acre. One hundred and forty of 
this was winter wheat, which gre\/ upon seven 
acres, averaging twenty bushels to the acre. In 
1838, they raised in the same township 750 bushels. 
Mr. Lewis, who that year resided in the same tow n- 
ship, raised 750 bushels. 

In 1837, there were raised in this township 6000 
bushels of first rate wheat, which made an average 
of nearly 300 bushels to a fiunily. Wheat during 
that year w^as worth $1,75 per bushel. It will be 
remembered that the spring season of this year was 
very favorable for getting good burns, and the sum- 
mer also favorable for the wheat crop. In 1838, 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 57 

they raised but about 3000 bushels, owing to the 
extremely wet spring sea.son which prevented their 
getting burns soon enough to enable them to sow 
sufficiently early. 

While speaking of the crops of No. 4, I trust that 
it will not be an improper digression to say some- 
thing more of this township in this place. To the 
eye of an agriculturalist it appears like a gem in 
the wilderness. Perhaps, however, the circum- 
stances under which we hrst saw it, may liave 
caused a more vivid ''first impression" than might 
otherwise have been the case. Our party had 
entered the Aroostook country in another direction, 
and had been for a long time exploring the streams 
and the forest. 

We took the unfinished part of the road at its 
junction with the Aroostook on our return, and had 
travelled, or rather wallowed, through thirty miles 
of mud and mire, during the two first days of 
November, and those uncomfortably stormy. As 
we arrived at the end of this part of the road, the 
sudden appearance of enclosed and cultivated fields, 
and of the w ell graded, and handsomely constructed 
State road, stretching most invitingly before us, 
afforded a cheering and gratifying contrast to the 
leafless forest, and the miry path behind. 

The new and convenient barns and the enormous 
stacks of wheat which occasionally met the eye, 
gave evidence of thrift and comfort among the set- 
tlers, which some older parts of the State might 
envy. In looking, first at the forest on either side, 
8 



5S AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

reaching, dense and unbroken,, to the very verge of 
the distant horizon, and then to the recently cleared 
and enclosed fields, and the comfortable looking 
farm houses before us, I could not but feel a pride 
in the triumph of art over nature, and satisfaction in 
looking forward to the time, and that not very 
remote, when the whole region on either side, now 
a w ilderness, would, by the same means, be con- 
verted into farms, and ailbrd a home for thousands 
of contented and happy people. Tiie first tree Avas 
cut in this settlement in IS34<. In passing along, 
although there was considerable snow upon the 
ground and more still falling, we found many of the 
settlers with their boys busily engaged in junking 3.nd 
piling, and some were ploughing. Here was the 
secret cause of the change that had taken place in 
so short a time. Industry had levelled the forest 
and converted the lair of the wild beast into an 
abode of civilization. Industry had wrought the 
change, and that too unaided by a great amount of 
capital, for nearly every settler when he first entered 
his lot, was poor and possessed little else than good 
health and courage. Now, they have an abun- 
dance of subsistence — are blessed with the advan- 
tages of social life — have a school of about forty 
scholars, and are well supplied with missionaries 
of different denominations to lead them in their 
devotional duties according to the dictates of their 
consciences. 

Rye. But very httle rye is cultivated in this 
region. It is, however, a sure crop, and a profitable 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 59 

one. It is made use of in many parts, especially in 
No. 4, for fattening hogs, combined with potatoes 
boiled. I saw a white variety at Mr. Fairbanks' 
mill, the flour of which is as white as that of Wheat. 
It is a spring grain, and yields as much as the 
darker kind. 

Oats. This grain is pretty extensively and 
generally cultivated, and much use is made of it 
both as a fodder before being thrashed, and as a 
provender for the horses and oxen employed in the 
lumbering business. The common variety is mostly 
the kind cultivated. I saw some fields of the Sibe- 
rian, or "'horse-mane^'' oat, as they are sometimes 
called. The climate and the soil suit them well, 
and when properly cultivated, the crop seldom fails. 
Mr. Fairbanks and others stated tliat they seldom 
obtained less than fifty bushels to the acre on burnt 
land. The price for several winters past has been 
one dollar per bushel. 

Barley. I saw but few fields of barley — those 
however, were very good. This grain has not hith- 
erto been very generally cuUivated. It is coming 
very gradually into use, however, and will eventu- 
ally become an important crop to the farmers of this 
section. It is a crop that has not been held in 
so high estimation in any part of our State as its 
merits deserve, although it is now fast gaining favor. 
The introduction of hulling machines, will soon 
make it more of a fivorite, and bring it into more 
general use. In a part of the country where Indian 
corn cannot be safely relied upon, perhaps there is 



60 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

no other grain which can be cultivated to greater 
advantage for a substitute, than this. 

Peas. Peas grow well in this country, either 
when planted alone, or sown with oats. I found in 
diiferent places some of the grey pea mixed with 
the common kind. The seed of this variety came 
from Madawaska. The pea and oat crop is not so 
generally attended to as it ought to be. As a feed 
for swine, it is of great use, second, as some think, 
only to Indian corn. I could obtain no certain data 
of the amount which has ever been raised here per 
acre. 

Buckwheat. The variety called Indian wheat 
in Kennebec, but more commonly in this region, 
" Rough Buckwheat," is very extensively culti- 
vated, not only on the Aroostook, but also on the 
St, John river. This grain, which is undoubtedly 
the true Tartarian Buckwheat, is said by some to 
be indigenous to this section of the State, growing 
wild in the woods, and furnishing food for the par- 
tridges and wild fowl. I was credibly informed that 
a Mr. Murphy, who w-as the first settler in the 
Tobique settlement, states that when he first went 
there, and while there w\is no clearing for many 
miles distant, he killed partridges that had this grain 
in their crops, and that he took it out and sowed it, 
thereby obtaining seed for future use. How this 
may be, I am not able to say. We saw none grow- 
ing wild during our excursion. 

In regard to this grain, there is no doubt that its 
grow^th, its great powers of yielding, as well as its 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 61 

uses in domestic economy, have been much over- 
rated. It has been confidently stated by many of 
its advocates, that it would grow best and yield 
most on poor land. This is a mistake. It likes a 
warm sandy loam, but it also likes to have this loam 
in good tilth and of good quality. On such a soil, 
it will sometimes yield fifty bushels from one of sow- 
ing. Some farmers on the St. John river cultivate 
it largely. A Mr. Raymond, of Wakefield, N. B., 
I am told, raised last season nearly 1500 bushels. 
A gentleman of Frederickton (Mr. Woodford,) 
informed me that he sowed, about the middle of 
June last, one peck and a half on one acre of strong 
but rocky land, which yielded him twenty-four 
bushels, the whole cost of which, when ready to be 
sent to mill, was six dollars, making the cost per 
bushel 25 cents. 

It is much used for fattening swine and poultry, 
and for provender for horses and oxen. Many hke 
it for bread, but it is not so palatable to others as the 
old variety. Care should be used in grinding it. 
If it be ground fine, so as to crush tlie hull, the 
flour will have a bitterness of taste. To avoid this, 
it will be necessary to set the stones so far apart as 
to just open the hull, and let it escape without being 
crushed at all. The flour falls out and the hull 
passes from the bolt, merely opened, but destitute of 
flour. It yields, when ground fine, about thirty-five 
pounds of flour to the bushel, but it is much better 
to so grind it that only twenty-five pounds shall be 
obtained per bushel. 



Q2 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

In this country it seems to take the place of Indian 
corn, and often brings a dollar per bushel. 

It grows about two feet high, has a minute yel- 
lowish green flour, and a rough triangular shaped 
seed. This seed shatters out very easily, and 
requires the utmost care in harvesting it, lest you 
leave it on the ground. The usual mode of man- 
agement is to mow it when about half of the seed 
has turned black; then rake it up into small bunches 
and let them lie for some time to ripen, as it is said 
the rains do not iiijiu'e it. When gathered, rugs 
and cloths are laid in the bottom and hung on the 
sides of the cart to catch what may fall out. 

There is one objection to cultivating this crop, viz: 
it shells out so easily tliat it invariably leaves more 
or less of its seed in the ground, which thus becomes 
filled with it, and, going upon the principle that a 
weed is a ''plant out of place ^^^ it then becomes 
a bonafide weed. 

In a country, however, where but little Indian 
corn is cultivated, it is quite an acquisition to the 
farmer, who puts it to very many valuable uses. 

Beans. This crop does well on the Aroostook. 
The early white is cultivated here somewhat — but 
little attention, however, is paid to this or any other 
variety. A few" for domestic use are generally 
planted, but as a field crop, I know of no one that 
has ever cultivated them. 

Roots. — Potatoes. Perhaps no part of New 
England is better suited to the cultivation of most 
of the culinary roots in use among us, than this. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. Q$ 

The potatoes raised in this country, when planted 
in season, are equal in quantity and quality to any 
whatever. The climate and soil both seem par- 
ticularly congenial to this root. Nothing is n anting 
but greater facilities for getting them to market, to 
make their culture one of the most profitable branches 
of agricultural operations that can be pursued here. 
The variety most approved, is called the Christie 
potatoe, from the circumstance of their having been 
introduced by a Mr. Christie, who resides there. 
They are known in other parts of the State by the 
name of the St. John potatoe. No particular pains 
are taken here for this crop, or anxiety manifested 
to obtain a large amount per acre. Hence the 
actual power of the soil in this respect has never 
been fairly tested. J^Iany assert that they have 
obtained three hundred bushels per acre, with com- 
mon management. Mr Fitzherbert, near the mouth 
of the river, once obtained four hundred bushels on 
something less than an acre, but the soil was good, 
and he gave it a good dressing with common barn- 
yard manure. 

I am sorry to say, however, that easily as this 
root may be raised, from neglect in attending to its 
culture, a severe scarcity is not unfrequently felt, 
and from that circumstance they have been sold for 
from eighty cents to a dollar per bushel. 

Rut A Bag A. This vegetable can be raised 
here in great perfection. It is however not gen- 
erally cultivated, not so generally as it should be, 
considering its value as an article of food for cattle 



64, AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

and swine during the winter season. No definite 
information was obtained as to the amount of yield 
per acre, but from the appearance of some few 
fields which I examined while growing, I could see 
no reason why the farmers of this region may not 
outstrip their brethren in other parts of the State 
in the culture of this root ; and it is to be hoped 
that they will not long neglect so valuable an article 
of produce. Notliing can be more grateful to cattle 
during the cold season, when but little, save dry 
forage, can be had to sustain them. In 1837, Fish 
and Wiggin raised in No. 4, 1300 bushels of this 
root among the potatoes that were planted upon a 
burn. The quantity of land is not known. They 
obtained from the same land 800 bushels of 
potatoes. 

Beets, Carrots, Parsnips, Onions, &c., 
all flourish well here, and can be raised with perfect 
ease and success. The Sugar Beet has never been 
tried, or if cultivated at all, no experiment has been 
instituted to ascertain the quantity Avhich can be 
obtained per acre, nor whether it will be more or 
less saccharine than when raised farther south. 
There is an opinion abroad, among some, that when 
this root is grown in w'arm regions the saccharine 
matter is greater in proportion to the quantity of 
root, than when it is grown nortli. Whether any 
experiments have actually demonstrated this to be 
the fact in this country, I am not able to say. 

The nature of the soil may have an influence 
upon the quality of this root, but reasoning from 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 65 

analogy it would seem that it is more fitted for a 
cool than a sultry climate. The root seems to be a 
store house or magazine in which nutriment is to be 
preserved daring the winter season for the future 
use of the plant — it being a biennial, requiring two 
years in which to grow and perfect its seed. The 
cooler regions of the temperate zone, as a general 
rule, produce those kinds of roots in much greater 
perfection as it regards size and quantity than the 
warmer portions. It is also a pretty well estab- 
lished fact, that the northern limit, at which any 
plant will flourish and fully ripen, will afford that 
plant and its fruit in greater perfection, than at the 
southern limit. The Sugar Beet is destined to 
become to the North, what the Sugar Cane is to 
the South, and I can see no good reason whatever, 
why the farmers in the Aroostook section of our 
State may not find it a safe and valuable business 
to embark in its cultin*e and in the manufacture of 
sugar from it. The Sugar Maple it is true flour- 
ishes here in perfection, and affords a rich supply of 
susar to those inhabitants who see fit to attend to 
the manufacture. Yet it is believed by those who 
have had experience in the culture of the beet and 
in the manufacture of Maple Sugar, that the for- 
mer will afford a more ample source of sugar than 
the latter, in consequence of its requiring less labor, 
all things considered. 

The improvements which have been made and 
are still making in the process of manufacturing 
Beet Sugar, will soon render this business as simple 
9 



66 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

and as easy as any culinary operation now per- 
formed on the common hearth. The distance of 
this section from navigation and the expense arising 
from the transportation of foreign molasses and 
sugar, make it an object of no small importance to 
enquire into the subject, and to adopt early measures 
to introduce the culture of this beet and the manu- 
facture of sugar among them. It will be seen that 
I have been speaking of what may be done, rather 
than what is done; but as the common beet grows 
well there, and as the Sugar Beet will flourish 
where the common beet will, and as wherever the 
Sugar Beet will grow, sugar may be profitably made, 
there is nothing to prevent successful operations 
being carried on there. A country that can pro- 
duce the Rock Maple and the Sugar Beet in per- 
fection, need not depend upon the South for sugar 
or molasses. 

Flax. This plant grows here remarkably well, 
better perhaps than farther South. Its culture 
however is not carried on in any systematic manner, 
nor has there been to my knowledge any experi- 
ments made in regard to the best mode of culture 
in this region, or its management after being 
gathered. 

Generally, a small patch is sown for the purpose 
of affording thread, &c. for domestic purposes, and 
not for an article for the market. No new or 
definite information, in regard to its relative value 
to them as a field crop, can be given. Should the 
recent improvements in the mode of dressing this 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 67 

article, now being adopted in the Middle States, 
become more generally known and practised, it may 
yet be one of very considerable importance to this 
part of our State. 

Fruits. The settlement of this country has 
been so recent, that it cannot yet be ascertained 
whether it is or is not well adapted to the growth 
or the maturing of apples, pears, (&c. Some apple 
trees have been set out in township No. 4, on the 
Aroostook road, which look well, and which bid 
fair to produce fruit at the proper time. From 
what information I have been able to obtain from 
old people in this State, I have inferred that it is 
necessary for the forest to have been cleared from 
the ground some time, before apple trees will flourish 
very well. It was thought in the early settlement 
of Kennebec County, and in many other places in 
Maine, that apple trees would never flourish well 
in it, as the first attempts were not very successful; 
but time has proved the fallacy of this idea. It 
may be well to be somewhat cautious as to what 
situation the farmer on the Aroostook should set 
his trees. A southerly slope would probably be the 
best until the country should become more open, 
and the rays of the sun have more chance for opera- 
tion. The apple tree grows well in Iloulton. It 
flourishes also in some parts of Canada, and very 
probably will ultimately do well in this section. 
The wild prune, the currant, the gooseberry, the 
cranberry, common cranberry, blue berry, wild 



63 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

cherry, 6zc. abound and come to maturity in their 
proper season. 

Grass. The different species of grass which 
are cultivated in New England, flourish here in 
great perfection. I have never seen better crops of 
herds-grass, clover, &c., than what I found in this 
country, nor was better hay ever put into a barn, 
than that wJiich I found in that of Mr. Fairbanks, 
last autumn. 

The natural grasses, such as blue joint, &:c. spring 
up with great luxuriance and yield in profusion. 
Although they start somewhat late, there is gene- 
rally no check to them in their growth, and they 
come forward with astonishing rapidity. On the 
12th of June, on a small interval at the mouth of 
the Umquolqus, the blue joint was tvfo and a half 
feet in height. Nature has undoubtedly designed 
this region for a grazing as well as an arable coun- 
try. It is true that the winters are longer than in 
some other parts of New England, but this, which 
by some is considered a disadvantage, is met and in 
a good degree counteracted by the abundance of 
grass for pasturage and fodder. Considering the 
low price of land and the extensive range w^hich 
cattle may have — the call, which for a long series of 
years must be made for good oxen, horses and beef 
to carry on the farming and lumbering operations of 
the country, grass growing and grazing cannot but 
be a lucrative business. If the farmer does not 
wish to keep stock, his hay will be in demand at a 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 69 

fair price, sufficient to make it an object to enter 
into tlie business extensively. Grass sown upon a 
burn requires two years at least to get thoroughly 
set. It then affords a better fodder than when 
recently sown. The average amount of yield is one 
and a quarter ton per acre, and the average price 
is ^12 per ton for loose hay, and ^14 per ton for 
screwed or pressed. 

Agricultural implements. In a country 
where all are pioneers, and where comparatively 
few have any great amount of capital to begin with, 
it cannot be expected that agricultural improve- 
ments would receive much attention, especially 
when the apathy in regard to these things in the 
older and more wealthy parts of the State, does 
not offer any very powerful example to stimulate 
the back woodsman beyond the necessary opera- 
tions of subduing the forest and merely raising his 
bread. Very little ploughing is as yet done, as 
most of the crops are raised on a ""hurn)^^ and as 
roads are not yet laid out and constructed, no other 
vehicle except the common sled is much used by 
the farmers on the river. I found here the thresh- 
ing floor and fan of olden time. The thrashing 
floor is merely a sufficient number of logs, which, 
when hewed square and placed side by side, will 
make a platform eight or ten feet wide, having sides 
raised two or three feet in height on which the 
grain is laid and thrashed by the common flail. 
The fan is formed by semicircle of light board, say 
three feet in diameter, having a rim around the 



70 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

circumference of thin wood and a handle on each 
side to manage it. In this fan the grain is taken 
up and shaken about, tossing it up occasionally, to 
catch the air to blow off the chatf. It is also waved 
back and forth over the grain as it has in the heap, 
and the chaff thus blown away. 

I found a very good thrashing machine at Mr. 
Fairbanks', made by himself, and propelled by 
water. It was made in the usual form of the spike 
or scutching' machine. A cylinder of wood in 
which were placed teeth made of round bolt iron. 
A part of the teetli of the bedding were made of 
wood, which I am informed answered very w^ell 
indeed. 

In No. 4, I found Pitts' Horse Power and 
Thrasher in active operation. The large quantities 
of grain raised in this place make such machines 
very desirable and diminish the labor of getting it 
out very much indeed. 

Roads. A liberal policy in constructing good 
roads through the Public Domain, is undoubtedly 
the best policy to be pursued. It at once opens the 
country as it were to the inspection of the world, 
and induces many to enter and settle, who would 
not otherwise leave the older settled parts of the 
State. It is important however, that these roads 
should be laid out in the most judicious manner, so 
as to connect the most important points of the 
country, and at the same time throw open as large 
a quantity of settling land to the emigrant as possi- 
ble. Indeed it would seem advisable to conduct 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 71 

the roads through the best settling land, even at the 
risk of being more circnitons and incurring more 
expense. The Aroostook road, as laid out to the 
river, appears to have been very happily located in 
this respect. But from the Aroostook to the Mad- 
awaska settlement it appears, from what observa- 
tions I could make, to pass through a tract of coun- 
try less abounding in good settling land than if it 
were laid out farther west or east of its present 
location. There are two courses on the west side 
of its present position which it would be well to 
examine thoroughly. First up the Great Machias 
and west of the Upper Eagle lake, thence bearing 
easterly till it strikes Fish river terminating at the 
junction of this river with the St. John — or second, 
up the east side of the Little Machias and the 
Upper Eagle lake, and crossing the stream Avhich 
connects the Upper lake with the one immediately 
below, and thence running down on the westerly 
side of Fish river, as before mentioned. An- 
other avenue which it would be desirable for the 
State to open, would be from the to\vn of Iloulton 
to the mouth of Presquile, and thence to Mada- 
w^aska settlement. A road from near the mouth of 
the Masardis or St. Croix to the Grand Falls of 
the Aroostook, would give as many thoroughfares 
through this territory perhaps as the State ought to 
construct. The various connecting roads should be 
made by settlers or proprietors. 

The late Surveyor General, Dr. Whipple, very 
politely furnished me with a plan of a road running 



72 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

from the St. Croix, by Pollard's Mills, to the mouth 
of the Aroostook. It passes diagonally through 
the townships belonging to Maine, which course, in 
case Massachusetts should decline her assistance, it 
would be well to adopt, as it is as short a route 
as could probably be selected. If, however, Mas- 
sachusetts would cooperate with her usual liberality 
and energy, it would undoubtedly be best to follow 
the course of the river, as for a number of years 
such a route would accommodate the greatest num- 
ber of settlers, and always be a road of much 
travel.* 

Geology. Though I was required to examine 
the Geology of the country through which I passed ; 
yet, as it has been so recently examined by our inde- 
fatigable State Geologist, who has reported thereon, 
it would be a work of supererogation forme to report 
upon the same subject; especially as a narration of 
the facts would be merely a recapitulation of his obser- 
vations. I shall therefore merely bear testimony to 
the able and faithful manner in which he has per- 
formed this part of his task. Some recent discov- 
eries of fetid limestone have been made in No. 11 
5th Range, since his visit to that country, owing to 
clearing and burning, which laid bare the rocks and 
which were before hidden. Slate, limestone, and 
graywacke are the principal rock formations at 
present visible. No granite formations were seen 
by our party on the Aroostook or its tributaries. 
The characteristics of the rock formations, as Dr. 

^ Tlic plan is deposited with the Board of Interna! Improvements. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 73 

Jackson observes, indicate coal or anthracite, but 
it is very possible that this region is the extreme 
western limit of tlie coal formation which occurs in 
the Provinces east of this. It may be here observed 
that any country which has a good soil, plenty of lime, 
iron and coal, is emphatically a rich country. All of 
those requisites, except the last, are abundant on 
the Aroostook, and the place of the last will be for 
many years supplied by the immense forest which 
covers the country. 

State Farm. I avail myself of the suggestion 
of a friend to recommend the establishment of a 
State Farm in this region. There are many rea- 
sons why such an institution would be of great 
utility to this section of the country, and highly 
beneficial to the State at large. Lands of any 
quality and in any quantity can be selected. Lum- 
ber for buildings and fixtures is at hand, already 
belonging to the State. 

The object of it should be to introduce the various 
breeds of cattle, sheep, hogs and other stock ; to cul- 
tivate the various crops which it is desired to accli- 
mate, and the properties of which it is wished to test 
in this latitude ; to introduce the various fruits which 
would probably grow, and thus form a source whence 
the settler could look for a supply to commence his 
operations or to renovate his stock and crops when 
degenerated or exhausted. I am aware that this 
may be considered visionary to many, nor do I 
know that any thing of the kind has as yet been 
commenced in any of the States, but in Europe, 
10 



74 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

National farms are not uncommon, and the citizens 
of this Repubhc are not nnfrequently benefited by 
importations from them. 

The Merino Sheep from the National or King's 
flock in Spain, and from the National farm at 
Rambouillet in France; the Saxony from the 
Electoral flocks in Germany, by which our own 
country has become a rival in w^ool growing with 
many of the kingdoms of the old world, may be 
mentioned as instances of the great and extended 
good which has arisen from similar estabUshments 
abroad. There is one advantage to be considered 
in locating a farm in this part of our domain. It 
is the most northern section of our State, and we 
might be pretty well assured, that w^hatever came 
to maturity here, would also mature in any other 
part of New England. 

The expense of commencing need not be great, 
as the object is utihty rather than splendor ; plain 
practical excellence rather than useless show. It 
is beUeved that under the management of a man of 
good sense and practical skill, such an establishment 
would soon pay its expenses and become a source 
of good stock and seeds, and a pattern worthy of 
imitation. 

General remarks. — Resources. It will 
be natural to enquire w^hat are the resources of this 
part of the State? I answer, they are obviously 
more than is found in many tracts embracing the 
same amount of territory. In the first place the 
lumber stands most prominent. At present it is 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 75 

the best portion of Maine for lumber, although as 
it regards pine, there is not as many trees to be 
found upon an acre as in some other sections; yet 
what grows here, is of an excellent quality, and 
readily commands the highest price. The other 
varieties of lumber, such as cedar and hackmatac, 
are very abundant and have not yet been disturbed. 
Second — The large amount of good soil, which by 
proper attention will afl'ord a surplus of produce for 
the use of less favored portions of the State. 
Third — Its mineral resources, especially lime, will 
be a source of profit and comfort to the residents 
as soon as enterprize shall take hold sufficiently 
strong to place it within the reach of the consumer. 
Indeed, I see no reason why, in the course of a few 
years, the inhabitants of the valley of the Aroostook 
may not send out, as a surplus over and above what 
they may need for home consumption, large amount 
of lumber of every description, wheat, oats, rye, 
barley, potatoes, beef, pork, wool, live stock, such 
as neat cattle, sheep, and horses, in abundance. 
There is no natural obstacle in the way to prevent 
this being done. 

Objections to the country. It w^ill h? 
also natural to ask what are the objections to settle- 
ing in this country? That there objections in the 
minds of almost every one who has been brought 
up in an old settled country, where all the comforts 
of civilized life abound, I am aware; but these 
objections are of a nature which time, industry and 
perseverance will do away. The emigrant who 



76 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE 

goes into the forest to prepare or make a farm for 
himself, must reflect before he leaves the pleasant 
abodes and cultivated fields where he has been wont 
to enjoy the accumulated convenience of years of 
toil and labor, that he must of necessity leave these 
behind, and take the world in the "roitg/i" as 
it were. He must remember, that he goes there, 
not to find the pleasures or the refinement of the 
town or the city, but to create them for himself — 
to manufacture them, so to speak, from the raw 
material — to establish and build himself up from 
small and mayhap from humble beginning. The 
first troubles that will be sure to introduce themselves 
to the stranger are the hlack flies and musquitoes 
during the warm season. These however, are no 
more abundant here, than in every new place where 
the forest abounds. Every pioneer has had to 
encounter them, and they gradually disappear as 
the country becomes cleared and cultivated. The 
lack of Mills has heretofore been a serious objec- 
tion, but, thanks to the liberality of the State, by 
the encouragement offered in the act of 1838, this 
will soon be obviated. Early frost may be con- 
sidered as a serious objection by some. This how- 
ever is one, w^hich may also be considered as resting 
for the few last years upon all New England. It 
is true, that as a general rule, the frost is earlier 
here than in Massachusetts; but, with the excep- 
tion of Indian corn, all the staple crops of our 
agriculture ripen perfectly well. 



AROOSTOOK TERRITORY. 77 

Want of schools and religious privile- 
ges. All new countries are liable to this objection. 
It is one which, for the first few years, is almost 
inevitable; but it is nevertheless astonishing how 
soon the New Englanders make arrangements to 
meet these wants. Almost before they have pro- 
cured the necessary buildings for their own protec- 
tion, and ere the ''first hurn''^ has done smoking, 
the school mistress may be seen, with a bevy of 
urchins about her, listening to her instructions; and 
the missionary is made welcome to the settlement, 
and the utmost attention given while he leads in 
the devotional duties of the Sabbath. 

The lack of intelligent and refined society operates 
as an objection in the minds of many. It is true, 
that the same amount of refinement cannot be found, 
and indeed cannot be expected, in a new country 
like this, where the wilderness stretches between 
the several settlements for many a league unbroken 
and undisturbed, save occasionally by the clearing 
made by some one who has had the courage to leave 
the busy haunts of men and wrestle in solitude as 
it were with nature herself; but on the other hand, 
if you do not find the refinements, you also do not 
find many of the follies which too often accompany 
those refinements, and make fashionable life ridicu- 
lous. As for intelligence, the yankee who goes into 
the wilderness or elsewhere, carries it with him, and 
the schools before mentioned are sure to perpetuate it. 

Should you advise me to go to the Aroostook? 
is a question often put. Before answering this, I 



78 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 

would use the characteristic privilege of asking, who 
are you? 

If you are already well situated — have a good 
farm — live in a pleasant neighbourhood, and are 
blessed with the common goods and chattels neces- 
sary for the well-being and happiness of your family, 
stay where you are — go neither east nor west. Are 
you a man of feeble health, with little capital, una- 
ble to undergo the severe toils of subduing the forest, 
and unable to hire? It would not be advisable for you 
to go there. Are you idle — lazy — shiftless and 
vicious? Go not thither. Better stay where,(if you 
cannot reform) alms houses and prisons are more 
abundant to administer to your necessities, or to 
ensure your safe keeping. Are you in straitened 
circumstances, but in good health, with a robust 
and hardy fluuily of children to assist you? Go to 
the Aroostook. If possible, take a supply of pro- 
visions with you to last till you can get a crop — 
select a good lot of land, be prudent and industri- 
ous, and in three years you can look around upon 
your productive acres and your well filled garners 
with satisfaction. Are you a young man just start- 
ing in life, but with no capital, save a strong arm — 
good courage, and a narroiv axe? Go to the Aroos- 
took; attend assiduously and carefully to your busi- 
ness; select a lot suitable for your purpose, and with 
the common blessings of providence, you will, in a 
very few years, find yourself an independent free- 
holder, with a farm of your own subduing, and 
with a capital of your own creating. 



NOTE.— [Page 37.] 
(a) Tliese remarks were written before llie late troubles 
took place in regard to the trespassers on the Public Lands. 
Those, however, who have been stationed on Fish river, 
are undoubtedly aware of the trouble they would have 
had to get to that station, had they not gone in on the ice 
during the winter. 



ERRATA. Page 21 — 9th line from bottom, for " ptuldingstone con- 
glomerate," read pitddingstonc (conglomerate.) 

Page 39 — 6th line from bottom, for " both branches," read both banfcs. 



r 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: 

" * "^ ' PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES. LP. 



1 1 1 TncmsOT Pari< Dnve 
Cranberry Township, PA 1S066 



WIRT 
BOOKBINDINC 

Grar.v.lle Pa 
JULV AUG 198" 



